 Okay, welcome back everybody to our second lecture on the end times We've got it recording on So any questions so far? We just started off chapter 12. I just gave a little little Introduction any questions so far? Okay So chapter 12 revelation 12 what we said was Revelation 12 is still at the middle of the tribulation, right? We're still there and John is seeing a Woman who's clothed with the Sun the moon the 12 stars and This woman has given birth to the man child that's worse to a A child and there is a dragon Seven heads ten horns seven diadems and This is verse three and this dragon drew a third of the stars and threw them to the earth and the dragon Was standing before the woman ready to devour her child as soon as it was born Verse 5 she bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron and Her child was caught up to the to God and his throne relation 12 verse 5 Who is this dragon if you look further down in verse 9 it says, you know that the great dragon That serpent of old called the devil and Satan, right? So here we are seeing the dragon There's this woman who gives birth to the man child and tells us something about the man child He is going to rule the nations with the rod of iron and he was caught up to God So who could the man child be well? It is the Lord Jesus Christ You know, it cannot be the church why? because It's only Jesus It's about Jesus that the Bible says and this is in Revelation 19 15 That he Jesus is going to rule the nations with the rod of iron So that phrase he will rule the nations with a rod of iron clearly indicates this man child is Jesus Christ and He was the one who was caught up to God About this dragon it says verse 4 This dragon Drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth that means this dragon Satan the devil Took one third of the angels with him to earth when he was cast out of heaven and And Seven heads ten horns have a diet. I'm just talking about remember here seven seven rep is is used figuratively talking about, you know, his Cunningness is talking about his authority and his influence here on earth Right because you had that So Figuratively in relation to out so about the nation of Israel is talking about the dragon is talking about the man child Jesus Christ Is giving us a little bit of history? That means there was a time in time past this dragon who had a lot of influence a lot of cunningness and He took one third of the angels with him and he was cast to the earth He was waiting like it says that in Was for and a verse for he was waiting to attack The man child who was going to be born through the woman that the woman is Israel Jesus came through the nation of Israel. He was waiting to destroy the child and we know how the enemy Satan tried to destroy Jesus Waiting destroy Jesus But didn't succeed This man child was caught up to God so We're six relation 12 verse 6 so the woman fled in so so that is history So 12 verse 1 to 5 is giving us a background to all of this these things have already happened So now it's picking up in the middle of the tribulation of religion 12 verse 6 the woman fled into the wilderness Where she had a place prepared by God they should feed her there 1260 days 1260 days is three and a half years So I listen 12 6 is back in the middle of the tribulation Evolution 12 1 to 5 is okay little background information history. Okay. This is what actually happened. This is what the dragon did This is who the woman was This is the man child and all of that relation 12 1 to 5 Relation 12 6 is okay now. We're picking up in the middle of the tribulation in the middle of the tribulation What happens the woman flees into the wilderness Woman the nation of Israel the Jewish people They're running their dead is being scattered out of their own land Why because in the middle of the tribulation the Gentiles are coming into Jerusalem the Gentiles are taking over So the Jews are running for their life and they're going to run into the wilderness where they will be preserved for Where God will take care of them for 1,000 260 days that is three and a half years Now where is this wilderness? This is where if we when we read Daniel chapter 12 We read about Jordan Jordan This is the nation right next to Israel much like a desert Very quiet sitting there And so it's very likely because it's mentioned in Daniel chapter 12 The sons of Amen and Moab and so on. It's very likely that The desert areas of Jordan will become a place where the Jews will go to hide and God will preserve them It's very likely because it's mentioned in Daniel 12 So here he says the woman fled into the wilderness relation 12 6 most likely running into the desert region of Jordan, which is just adjoining Israel and They will be preserved there for three and a half years but this But Satan is going to go after them through using the beast and the false prophet He's going to go after them. We'll see that later. So now Revelation 12 7 through 11 We see that this dragon is Making one last attempt To get into heaven So there's a war in the heavenlies So that's described there in Revelation 12 7 to 11 in this He's trying to get in there, but Michael and the archangels push them back to the earth say hey no entrance in heaven and It says here That The accused of the brand this is Satan worst well The devil end of worst well the devil has come down to you Having great wrath because he knows he has a short time So he makes a one last attempt to give get into heaven. Sorry no way the Michael and his angels are saying they cast him down He's cast to the earth and he says he comes with great vengeance because he knows his time is short So that's happening the spiritual realm then back to the natural run verse 13 When the dragon saw that he'd been cast to the earth He persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child was the woman Israel the Jews So he's the dragon Satan is going to go after the Jewish people But verse 14 the woman was given two wings of a great eagle She might fly into the wilderness to her place where she's nourished for a time times and half a time From the presence of the serpent time is one times two half a time so one Plus two that is three and a half three and a half years So for the next three and a half years The serpent is going to go after the Jewish people Right and then it describes what he's going to do verse 15 the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood and After the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood so we can interpret the flood as As talking about peoples These he's going to cause peoples to come against the woman The reason we can interpret flood because as people just because later on we'll see in ablation 17 That waters represents people Nations so here so that he's going to spew that means he's moving people against the Jewish people Israel but God is divinely protecting them were 17 The dragon was enraged with the woman He went to make war with the rest of her offspring who kept the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ means he's going to try to destroy The Jews As well as anybody else Who is keeping the commandments of God the rest of her offspring Everyone else who are keeping the test commandments of God and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ mid Satan is I'm going to go After the this this this nation of Israel. I'm going to go after the Jews I'm going to go after anybody who has a testimony of Jesus Christ Now I want to point out that phrase the testimony of Jesus Christ That's again another indication of the presence and work of the Holy Spirit Because the testimony of Jesus Christ, what is it? Then you know when in Revelation chapter 1 verse 1 2 and 3 the testimony Jesus Christ is this is what Jesus is saying The testimony of Jesus simply means this is what Jesus is speaking. He's what he's saying right now but it's in Revelation 19 10 that It says the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy That means the Holy Spirit the spirit of prophecy is the one who helps us speak the testimony of Jesus So the testimony of Jesus that is what Jesus is saying right now How can we have the testimony of Jesus through the spirit of prophecy? Because it's the spirit of prophecy the Holy Spirit who helps us speak what Jesus is saying right now, so Once again this phrase the testimony of Jesus Christ in In in in Revelation 12 17 is indicating that there are people on the earth where we have the Holy Spirit They're born again, and they are saying what Jesus is saying on the earth during that time and the dragon Satan is going after such people so Revelation 12 The focus of this chapter Revelation 12 is telling us That starting from the middle of the tribulation for the next one thousand two sixty days or three and a half years or 42 months or Time times and half a time for that entire duration Satan is going after Israel and Anybody else who keeps the commandments of God and who has the testimony of Jesus Christ? Once again chapter 12 Gives us a little bit of history what happened in the past There was the woman the nation of Israel who gave birth to the man child Jesus Christ Satan was waiting to kill But he couldn't kill the man child This man child was going to rule the nations with the rhodo wine. He went up to heaven So Satan couldn't kill him Couldn't keep him down So he's very angry and Then in the middle of the tribulation he's going to go after This woman which is the nation of Israel in the natural in the spiritual He's going to make his one last attempt to get into heaven But the angelic hosts they're not going to let them they're going to push him and his demonic hosts back to the earth He's going to come back to the earth with great anger knowing his time is short He's got just three and a half years left and in that time he's going to go with full vengeance against Israel And against those who keep the commandments of God and who have the testimony of Jesus Christ But God is going to supernaturally protect the Jewish people preserve them during this time And he's going to give them a way of escape So that is chapter 12 But again chapter 12 is telling us what is going to happen for three and a half years with the people of Israel And with those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ Are you all with me so far? Yes All right, okay, so Now we get into chapter 13. So now we are moving in the second half of the tribulation. Okay first half of tribulations over chapters 11 and chapter 12 are really telling us Hey, these are things that are going to start from the middle of the tribulation and it'll be happening for the next three and a half years Now they're going to start moving along chapter 13 Is where we start reading about the beast Remember the beast was that that that word the beast came to us in revelation 11 verse 7 suddenly it said There's a beast Right Who is this beast? Okay chapter 13 right now The language the language of chapter 13 beginning Is very much parallel to the language used in Daniel in the book of Daniel Okay, so If we understand Daniel's, you know visions Of which we will do in third year. We will study all of that in detail We will see that the same thing is being used here In what John is seeing in his vision So John is seeing a beast coming out of the sea The sea in the Bible represents nations So he's coming out of one of the nations Right a beast He's got seven in revelation 13 verse 1 right now He's seeing this beast coming out of the sea and this beast has seven heads ten horns and Crowns on his horns now you will see that this is Exactly what was also described about the dragon in revelation 12 verse 3 So this beast Of revelation 13 1 Is like is the human expression of this dragon Which is satan right So in revelation 12 verse 3 There was this dragon and we know from relation 12 9 the dragon is the devil This beast was coming out of the you know out of the the sea representing out of one of those nations He's the earthly replica. He's the antichrist He's The dragon's representative on the earth right now verse 2 says That this beast was like a leopard It's like a bear at the mouth like a lion And the dragon gave him power He's thrown in great authority Now very interesting leopard bear lion these are pictures are we see in in in daniel's vision in daniel chapter seven there he saw a bear a leopard a lion so these In daniel's vision you can we can understand from there that These were representing different world empires So there was nebuchadnezzar empire Then there was the bear Which represented the meads and the persians Then there was a leopard which represented the greeks and then there was the The lion sorry the lion actually came first the lion The bear and the leopard the babelonians The meads and the persians and then the greeks This is in daniel chapter seven the point is What god had informed daniel is that from the greek empire the greek empire The first person there was the first emperor or the ruler there was alexander the great So god had revealed to daniel in daniel chapter eight that from the greek empire after alexander the great died The first hawn representing alexander the great after he died His empire would be divided into four parts Which actually happened alexander the great His empire grew very powerfully But then he died young he died suddenly and after he died four of his generals took over four parts of his empire and god revealed to daniel and daniel chapter eight That from one of these four regions will come the little horn that is the antichrist So that's why relation 12 2 is very interesting So it's correctly saying hey This beast Okay, let me just antichrist who's coming He's coming from one of those areas. You know the origins are there There was a babelonian the lion There was the bear that's the meads and the persians Then there was a leopard which represents the greek So he's got that that ancestry that background And now he's coming So It is interesting to study daniel eight Where god told daniel this is where the antichrist will come from from one of the four areas Where the greek empire was broken into And very broadly speaking and i'm not saying these are exact because And the the regions Extended beyond these countries, but some of the main countries that were part of the four greek syria turkey and egypt broad regions So so we look at Greek and the surrounding countries We look at turkey Of course, turkey's in the news these days because of the earthquake Look at syria neighboring country that region Around there and each northern africa so the greek empire Of alexander the great was broken into these four regions Big big areas. I'm just mentioning the main countries But god told daniel and daniel chapter eight It from one of these four regions the antichrist will emerge And here we're seeing revelation 13 to hey Same thing He was like this. He's coming from there But his authority is given to him by the dragon This man And what we see here is this that Revelation 30 Okay, let me just skip a few let me just Point out a few things here Verse five says That this beast is going to speak blasphemous things and he's going to do this for 42 months So once again the time period is given Revelation 13 5 42 months that means three and a half years That means what revelation 13 is talking about is starting In the middle of the tribulation and going to the end of the tribulation Right 42 months time period is given that means second half of tribulation So it's very interesting chapter 11 Talk about 42 months chapter 12 42 months chapter 13 42 months So this beast This is the antichrist now remember In revelation six verse two we saw this man coming riding on a white horse. He came as a man of peace Now the same man is being called the beast The antichrist So he comes as a man of peace Now he's the beast being empowered He of course was empowered by demonic powers from the very beginning But now his true colors are coming out and The other thing is this what does he do? Well, he's he's going to be Worst force for everything 24. He wants to be worshiped And when people worship the beast, they're actually worshiping the dragon Verse four Verse five He's going to speak blasphemies things against god Verse six he opens his blast his blasphemy against god now these Things were spoken to daniel also So when you go back and read daniel seven and daniel eight It's exactly what that antichrist will do that little horn. He's going to speak blasphemies against god against The most high god against jesus christ. So that's exactly what is this beast is doing That's what we can connect the two that this beast here is Is the little horn spoken of by daniel So he's going to speak blasphemies things And verse seven 13 verse seven. He's going to make war with the saints. He's going to go attack the people who Who worshiped jesus and were saint All who dwell on the earth whose names are not written in the book of life They're going to worship him So that means he's going to get people to worship pledge allegiance to him right and if people don't Refused people refuse to worship him. What'll happen worst 10 relation 1310. He's going to kill them going to destroy them so Revelation 13 1 to 10 is describing some of these activities of this Beast this antichrist who was empowered by the dragon Very interesting is verse 11 says there was another beast Okay So this beast Is like a lamb and and spoke like a dragon. He is like a lamb So he's a religious leader We'll see more about this right He is a religious leader and What does he do He was 12 relation 13 12. He causes people to worship the beast I remember when they worship the beast. They actually worshiping the dragon. They actually worshiping satan now this another beast Whom we call as a false prophet later on the bible calls him as a false prophet in revelation 16 He is causing people to worship the beast And verse 13 and 14. What does he do? He's doing miracles He's doing science and wonders doing great science And he is deceiving those who dwell on the earth So you can imagine now try to picture this God has his two witnesses in jesus They are doing science and wonders They are causing fire to come down from heaven. They are doing the works of god satan is having his two people the The beast and the false prophet And the false prophet is also doing science and wonders On the same time during the second half of the tribulation You can imagine how confused people will be Because god's got his two witnesses. They are preaching jesus and they are doing the two, you know signs and wonders But satan's got The antichrist the beast and the second beast of the false prophet They are also doing things People are going to be so confused Whom should we follow? Right because it says here he deceives verse 14 He deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs So by the supernatural he's going to deceive people People will be very confused who to follow And and it says here The uh the beast Who was wounded by the sword and lived so End of verse 14 The first beast Uh So it seems like And I I missed this out here in verse 13 revolution 13 verse 3 also It seems like there was an assassination attempt on the antichrist revolution 13 3 and 13 14 But he lived so people are marvel marvel. Oh this man cannot be killed He survived so all the more And verse 15 revelation 13 15 There was an There was so this man creates an image of the beast And through this image He is you know, he's causing people to worship this image Um this image has the power to kill people so You know how this is going to happen We don't know but it could happen through the use of technology I'm not saying that's the only way it's going to happen It could happen that way that This kind of images distributed all over the world and people are forced to worship it and They don't you know, something can happen through through to them through the use of technology And then we see verses 16 through 18 something more that Together the beast and the false prophet they set up a global economic system so there is a world religious system that is in place where people are forced to worship the image of the beast Thereby worshiping the beast and thereby worshiping the dragon satan. So that's a world religious system He's causing people to worship the image of the beast But now in verse 16 and through 18 we are seeing a world economic system a financial system That means you cannot buy your cell until you have the mark of the beast And if you refuse the mark of the beast You'll be killed You cannot participate in any financial transaction so Two ways the antichrist and the false prophet are going to operate They're going to operate through a world religious system. You have to worship the image of the beast They're going to operate through a world economic or financial system You have to receive the mark of the beast if you want to buy and sell That means you want to transact but I do this And Every person Must have the mark of the beast in the hand or the forehead if they want to buy and sell again This is possible through the use of technology today right that you know There's so many ways to that it could be done. I'm not saying, you know, we have to Find out exactly how it's going to happen But we know today, you know, you can use fingerprinting you can use retina Check your retina you can so many things you can put mark here the only body or whatever so many ways But through the use of technology Your ability to transact is being controlled and it is global It's not localized to one particular country. It's global So revelation 13 is giving us this idea that This antichrist and this false prophet Are going to use a religious system and a financial system to control people And these are the two big things in the world today Of course, there may be other things But these are two big things to control people revelation 13 Brings it out for us Any questions on revelation 13? Okay, you all with me, uh, is it getting too heavy? Can we continue? Is it okay? Yes, mr. We can continue Yeah, but we can't continue faster Hmm Okay, thank you. So now we come to chapter 14 In chapter 14 something Is happening Remember in chapter seven We said god had 144 Jewish servants 144 Jewish servants who were serving him they've been marked With the holy spirit in the name of the lord They're serving god in chapter 14 John sees something He sees these 144,000 jews in heaven And they are worshiping god. So that means At some point in the second half of the tribulation remember revelation seven was in the first half of the tribulation They started their work At some point in the second half of the tribulation These 144,000 jews are in heaven now The bible is not telling us clearly How these 144,000 jews went to heaven were they all martyred And killed and therefore their spirits are up in heaven or where they just raptured It god just raptured them and take them up into heaven You know Give them resurrected bodies and take them up into heaven We don't know for sure but there is a clue in verse four of um I was three and four in verse three It says, you know the 144,000 jews end of verse three. They were redeemed from the earth So god took them out of the earth And then end of verse four revelation 14 for it says They were redeemed from among men and became first fruits to god and to the lamp They became First fruits to god and to the lamp so This is only a clue. I'm not saying, you know, we can say this like okay 100 percent sure Because the last part of that verse is saying They became first fruits to god and to the lamp That word first fruits is important, right? It's not just simply used It's important and The word first fruits is Used in scripture to talk about Either People who are born again spiritually They're first fruits. They're the first people to be saved from in say in amongst a certain community I was also used to talk about resurrection from the dead resurrection so We if we and again, I'm not saying this is 100 percent Sure, but if we Take up that word first fruits And say, okay, this word first fruits here in revelation 14 4 should mean something because god is saying They are first fruits to god and to the lamp What would this mean if if it probably If you put it in line with first Corinthians 15 about Jesus being the first fruits from the dead Okay, so maybe These are the first set of people who died in the resurrection in the tribulation Who are being raised? up And that means they are being resurrected with their glorified bodies Could mean that and I'm not saying for certain because we don't know I'm just trying to explain based on that word first fruits that most likely These people were killed but god raised them up Give them glorified bodies. So maybe they were not killed, but god just Give them glorified bodies took them into heaven. So the main idea is getting resurrected bodies first fruits So maybe these 144 000 Jews didn't die but god Raptured them give them glorified bodies took them up into heaven And so they're called first fruits because they were the first set of people from the tribulation to receive their glorified bodies Maybe right. So I'm not saying this for sure I'm just saying it that Because in revelation 14 john is seeing them in heaven. How did they get there? Um, something must have happened either they died and came or God just raptured them changed their bodies and took them, you know, so Based on that word first fruits most likely They were just raptured and taken to heaven then what happens In the rest of chapter 14 John is hearing Uh announcements being made and this is very important because There's an angel in verse six so that in chapter 14 Angels are making announcements right, so there's an angel Is announcing this is 14 verse six He's making an announcement. He's announcing the everlasting gospel to every nation tribe tongue and people so There's an angel god is using an angel To announce the everlasting gospel To people all over the world Just keep that thought in mind. I'll mention we just mentioned what the angels are doing and then we'll talk about it Then chapter verse eight in relation 14 eight. There's another angel And this angel is announcing something this angel is saying Is announcing the fall of Babylon is saying? Babylon is fallen Babylon is fallen so There's another angel Announcing to all the people The fall of Babylon What is Babylon? We will see in chapter 18 We will see in chapter 18 that Babylon Is referring to the world financial system so Remember in chapter 13 The beast of the false prophet they set up a world financial system. You cannot buy or sell unless you have the mark of the beast This angel is saying Babylon is going to fall Babylon has fallen Babylon has fallen warning the people Babylon is from this financial system is coming down. We will see it in chapter 18. Okay But he's using the word Babylon as a reason Chapter 18 explains it But this angel is saying Babylon is fallen the financial system is going to fall Third angel verse nine. There's another angel This angel is saying basically warning people Don't receive the mark of the beast don't worship the image of the beast Right, so there's another angel third angel warning people Don't receive the mark of the beast Don't worship the image of the beast Then There is A fourth angel Verse 15 revelation 14 verse 15 The fourth angel is announcing Saying god put on the sickle or the harvest has come Sorry Put in the sickle because the harvest has come the harvest will come now harvest Sickle and harvest is a picture of souls being saved So this angel is Just announcing god You know put in the sickle harvest is coming there's going to be a great harvest of souls fifth angel That's revolution 14 14 17 is saying He also has a sickle, but he is saying The grapes are ready to be crushed in the wine press so That wine press in grapes being crushed is Representing the wrath of god. It's like grapes crushed Crushing the of the grapes. That's a picture of the wrath of god and Verse 20 evolution 14 20 says When the wine press is crushed, what will happen? blood Came out of the wine press that means blood because of this pouring out of wrought god's judgment Blood came out of the wine press up to the horse's bridles For 1604 longs, which is 184 miles outside the city city of Jerusalem So the fifth angel is saying is announcing Judgment is going to come the wine press being the grapes being crushed in the wine press is a picture of judgment The judgment is going to come Outside the city of Jerusalem and blood is going to flow High as a horse's bridle that means five feet high It's going to flow for 184 miles. So imagine How great that judgment is going to be blood is going to flow For about 184 miles High as high as the horse's bridle So somebody sitting on a horse from the ground till the bridle it's like about You know four or five feet or something like that So much blood is going to flow outside the city of Jerusalem So in chapter 14, what do we see? We see that somewhere after the middle of the tribulation The 144,000 Jews are taken out of the earth. They're in heaven And then there are five angels making announcements Each angel is Announcing something first. There's an angel telling people Are preaching the gospel the everlasting gospel Second, there's another angel saying Babylon the world economic system is going to fall third Angel is saying don't worship the image of the beast Don't receive the mark of the beast Fourth angel is saying there's going to be a great harvest of souls Fifth angel is saying there's going to be a great judgment coming The announcements are being made So now the question is Who are these angels? How is it going to be happening? How are these angels going to be making their announcements? We don't know those details So, you know Some people I'm just mentioning this but some people may are thinking or they would write, you know Or these angels are these satellites that are preaching the gospel All around the world Maybe that's what John is thinking That these satellites are traveling all around the world and the gospel is being preached and People are you know people are preaching and through the use of these satellites the message is coming all over the world You know Some people would interpret it like that that means during the tribulation 14 There are people who are preaching But through the use of satellites they're covering the globe and they're warning people these four things They have elastic gospel is being preached They're warning people not to receive the mark of the beast or A worship the image of the beast they're warning people that the economic system is going to fall they are warning people That uh, you know, there's going to be this great harvest of souls There's going to be this great judgment coming So some people may interpret it like that now Maybe We don't know so we can't prove them wrong And one of their main arguments is that god has commissioned people to preach the gospel not angels Right, so which is a very valid argument so Maybe that's how it's going to happen or if god wants to use angels actually angelic beings to do this So be it, you know, we don't know John says he saw the angel so um We know that the commission to preach the gospel has been given to man But we also know that god has used angels to Bring messages to people He has used angels to bring announcements to people You know both in the old and the new testament so Um, there's no reason why he won't do it again, right? So I'm just mentioning that That one we could take it literally that there are going to be angelic beings doing this or If you take it figuratively then some people interpret it like that that It's actually people who are proclaiming but they're doing it to the whole world using satellite technology and so on so forth So we don't you know, I have I would just leave it as angels God has used angels in the past so he can use angels again How exactly are these angels going to communicate to man? We don't know. We just leave it to god to decide But the main point is this that during the tribulation the second half of the tribulation People all over the world Are going to be warned about these five things That means Nobody is without excuse They're going to hear the gospel They are going to be warned about the financial system They are going to be warned about the religious system They are going to be In and I know that there's going to be a great harvest of souls that announcement is going to be made They're also going to be told that there's going to be great judgment coming So that's going to happen So we'll stop here for today I hope You are following me in this journey through revelation. These are the things that are going to be happening any questions All right So let's pray together. We will pick this up next week from Chapter 15 onwards. I will take it forward. Okay Could somebody please close in prayer and then we will dismiss Generally father, we come to you under the name of Jesus. We thank you for the jay. We thank you for the beautiful class that we Got as we are listening to the classes help us to understand your deep truths about What is going to happen in this life? We thank you that you're a god who speaks and you thank you that you're a god who wants us to know these things We thank you for your truth and thank you for your world love God you are coming back again and God I pray that we will God our souls And we will proclaim this gospel to all you to the people because you are a living god and god you are coming back for your people Jesus Be with this guide as fill us with your truth fill us with your knowledge and Do mighty works to us love. We have to live for your glory Be with us and Jesus Emma Thank you everyone People dismiss now. See you again. So god bless. Bye now. Thank you master. Thank you